Biochar for Environmental Management

Biochar for Environmental Management
Author: Dr. Johannes Lehmann
Publisher: Earthscan
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1849770557

"Biochar is the carbon-rich product when biomass (such as wood, manure, or crop residues) is heated in a closed container with little or no available air. It can be used to improve agriculture and the environment in several ways, and its stability in soil and superior nutrient-retention properties make it an ideal soil amendment to increase crop yields. In addition to this, biochar sequestration, in combination with sustainable biomass production, can be carbon-negative and therefore used to actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, with major implications for mitigation of climate change. Biochar production can also be combined with bioenergy production through the use of the gases that are given off in the pyrolysis process.This book is the first to synthesize the expanding research literature on this topic. The book's interdisciplinary approach, which covers engineering, environmental sciences, agricultural sciences, economics and policy, is a vital tool at this stage of biochar technology development. This comprehensive overview of current knowledge will be of interest to advanced students, researchers and professionals in a wide range of disciplines"--Provided by publisher.

Biochar Systems for Smallholders in Developing Countries

Biochar Systems for Smallholders in Developing Countries
Author: Sebastian B. Scholz
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2014-06-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821395262

This report offers a review of what is known about opportunities and risks of biochar systems in developing countries. Its aim is to fill in critical knowledge gaps between the biochar research community and development practicioners on the ground.

Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable Sequestration

Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable Sequestration
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 511
Release: 2019-04-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309484529

To achieve goals for climate and economic growth, "negative emissions technologies" (NETs) that remove and sequester carbon dioxide from the air will need to play a significant role in mitigating climate change. Unlike carbon capture and storage technologies that remove carbon dioxide emissions directly from large point sources such as coal power plants, NETs remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or enhance natural carbon sinks. Storing the carbon dioxide from NETs has the same impact on the atmosphere and climate as simultaneously preventing an equal amount of carbon dioxide from being emitted. Recent analyses found that deploying NETs may be less expensive and less disruptive than reducing some emissions, such as a substantial portion of agricultural and land-use emissions and some transportation emissions. In 2015, the National Academies published Climate Intervention: Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration, which described and initially assessed NETs and sequestration technologies. This report acknowledged the relative paucity of research on NETs and recommended development of a research agenda that covers all aspects of NETs from fundamental science to full-scale deployment. To address this need, Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable Sequestration: A Research Agenda assesses the benefits, risks, and "sustainable scale potential" for NETs and sequestration. This report also defines the essential components of a research and development program, including its estimated costs and potential impact.

Climate Intervention

Climate Intervention
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2015-06-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309305322

The signals are everywhere that our planet is experiencing significant climate change. It is clear that we need to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from our atmosphere if we want to avoid greatly increased risk of damage from climate change. Aggressively pursuing a program of emissions abatement or mitigation will show results over a timescale of many decades. How do we actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to make a bigger difference more quickly? As one of a two-book report, this volume of Climate Intervention discusses CDR, the carbon dioxide removal of greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere and sequestration of it in perpetuity. Climate Intervention: Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration introduces possible CDR approaches and then discusses them in depth. Land management practices, such as low-till agriculture, reforestation and afforestation, ocean iron fertilization, and land-and-ocean-based accelerated weathering, could amplify the rates of processes that are already occurring as part of the natural carbon cycle. Other CDR approaches, such as bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration, direct air capture and sequestration, and traditional carbon capture and sequestration, seek to capture CO2 from the atmosphere and dispose of it by pumping it underground at high pressure. This book looks at the pros and cons of these options and estimates possible rates of removal and total amounts that might be removed via these methods. With whatever portfolio of technologies the transition is achieved, eliminating the carbon dioxide emissions from the global energy and transportation systems will pose an enormous technical, economic, and social challenge that will likely take decades of concerted effort to achieve. Climate Intervention: Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration will help to better understand the potential cost and performance of CDR strategies to inform debate and decision making as we work to stabilize and reduce atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide.

Exploring the Market for Voluntary Carbon Offsets

Exploring the Market for Voluntary Carbon Offsets
Author: Nadaa Taiyab
Publisher: IIED
Total Pages: 42
Release: 2006
Genre: Emissions trading
ISBN: 1843695820

Explores the potential for financing small-scale high-benefit sustainable development projects through the voluntary and retail sector of the carbon market.

Applications of Biochar for Environmental Safety

Applications of Biochar for Environmental Safety
Author: Ahmed Abdelhafez
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2020-07-22
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 178985895X

Biochar is a carbon-rich material produced from the pyrolysis of organic materials from agricultural and forestry biomass at a relatively low temperature in the absence of oxygen. As such, it has potential for solving many agricultural and environmental problems.This book is divided into five sections: “Introduction,” “Production and Legislation of Biochar,” “Applications of Biochar for Soil Fertility Improvement,” “Role of Biochar for Soil Remediation and Ameliorating Salinity Effects” and “Applications of Biochar for Water Treatment.” Chapters address topics such as the pros and cons of biochar, its production, and its role in remediating and treating contaminated soils and water.

How Bad Are Bananas?

How Bad Are Bananas?
Author: Mike Berners-Lee
Publisher: Profile Books
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2020-09-03
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1782837116

'It is terrific. I can't remember the last time I read a book that was more fascinating and useful and enjoyable all at the same time.' Bill Bryson How Bad Are Bananas? was a groundbreaking book when first published in 2009, when most of us were hearing the phrase 'carbon footprint' for the first time. Mike Berners-Lee set out to inform us what was important (aviation, heating, swimming pools) and what made very little difference (bananas, naturally packaged, are good!). This new edition updates all the figures (from data centres to hosting a World Cup) and introduces many areas that have become a regular part of modern life - Twitter, the Cloud, Bitcoin, electric bikes and cars, even space tourism. Berners-Lee runs a considered eye over each area and gives us the figures to manage and reduce our own carbon footprint, as well as to lobby our companies, businesses and government. His findings, presented in clear and even entertaining prose, are often surprising. And they are essential if we are to address climate change.

Biochar in European Soils and Agriculture

Biochar in European Soils and Agriculture
Author: Simon Shackley
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2016-02-22
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1134654944

This user-friendly book introduces biochar to potential users in the professional sphere. It de-mystifies the scientific, engineering and managerial issues surrounding biochar for the benefit of audiences including policy makers, landowners and farmers, land use, agricultural and environmental managers and consultants, industry and lobby groups and NGOs. The book reviews state-of-the-art knowledge in an approachable way for the non-scientist, covering all aspects of biochar production, soil science, agriculture, environmental impacts, economics, law and regulation and climate change policy. Chapters provide ‘hands-on’ practical information, including how to evaluate biochar and understand what it is doing when added to the soil, how to combine biochar with other soil amendments (such as manure and composts) to achieve desired outcomes, and how to ensure safe and effective use. The authors also present research findings from the first coordinated European biochar field trial and summarize European field trial data. Explanatory boxes, infographics and concise summaries of key concepts are included throughout to make the subject more understandable and approachable.